>> Hello and thanks for joining us on Chicago tonight.

I'm Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

The trial starts today for the man accused of killing 7 people at the Highland Park 4th of July parade.

What to know about the jury selection process?

Chicago is leading the country in inflation.

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago tells us why.

>> We've gotten very used to the fact that death is staring us in the face.

And I think the world has gotten used to it, too.

>> And local Ukrainian shared their thoughts about ongoing war with Russia.

>> Now to some of today's top stories, the U.S. Supreme Court has handed a defeat to abortion opponents today refusing to hear a pair of cases about laws limiting anti-abortion demonstrations near clinics.

One of the cases originated from an ordinance in downstate Carbondale, Illinois, which became a destination for people seeking abortions from nearby states.

The law is intended to address a disturbing behavior from protesters outside of clinics that provide abortions.

But anti-abortion activists argue the measures violate their free speech rights.

The Supreme Court justices did not explain the reasoning as is typical, but to conservatives, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas disagreed.

Chicago officials still have 2 years to spend 142 million dollars in federal COVID funds intended to shore up the city's social safety net.

Chicagoans recover from the now five-year-old pandemic Awt Tw news analysis shows that amount would have been 87 million dollars higher.

But the city council voted to use those funds to balance the city's 2025 budget and avert a property tax hike.

This means programming for affordable housing, mental health, violence prevention, youth jobs and help for unhoused Chicagoans will receive fewer of those federal dollars through the end of 2026. for more on this story, you can check out our Web site.

Grammy-winning soul singer Roberta Flack has died.

The songstress seen here performing on an episode of Sound stage at Park West back in 1981.

Was best known for her hit, killing me softly.

She became an overnight star in the early 70's.

That's when Clint Eastwood used her song the first time ever.

I saw your face in his film play.

Misty for me in 2022 flack announced she had ALS often known as Lou Gehrig's disease and could no longer saying a publicist says she died today surrounded by family Roberta flack was 88 years old and we'll see more of that 1981 performance later in the program.

Up next, a high-profile trial gets under way right after this.

>> Chicago tonight is made possible in part by the Alexander and John Nichols family.

The gym and K maybe family.

The Pope Brothers Foundation.

And the support of these donors.

>> A trial is underway for Robert Crimo, the 3rd who's accused of killing 7 people and injuring dozens more in Highland Park in July 2022. jury selection began today in Waukegan more than 2 and a half years after that deadly 4th of July parade at Masterson joins us now with more.

Matt, remind us of the charges that Crimo spacing.

So a few days after he after the shooting, he was indicted on 117 counts of his 21 counts of first-degree murder, which is 3 for each of the 7 victims who was killed in the shooting.

>> Along with 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery.

One each for all the other victims were wounded in the shooting.

>> But today, prosecutors move to drop.

48 of those aggravated battery charges.

It won't have much of an impact on the trial itself on.

He still faces the top count, which is murder.

He still faces a mandatory life sentence if he's convicted on that.

So just it's it's more of a routine move to drop off some of the lesser charges as he gets to this point.

But those that's what facing at this point.

>> And as mentioned, jury selection has started.

What more can you tell us about the trial process of Larry Jury selection expected to take most of this week.

It's obviously difficult to find 12 jurors, 6 alternates in a case like this.

It's so high profile that affected so many people with the over 50 people who were shot during mass attack, opening statements are expected for next Monday.

And the trial itself is expected to last about a month 3 to 5 weeks.

And a lot of that time is going to be taken up by those victims who are going to be testifying, possibly dozens of them recounting their experiences of that day of that attack.

And afterwards.

>> And the trial been delayed several times.

Matt, what was going So the site initially sought a day around this point for a trial when it first got brought up.

But in late 2023 Crimo abruptly dismissed his public defenders.

He wanted to act as his own attorney and he demanded a speedy trial that bumped the trial date up to February 2024.

But just a few weeks later, he backtracked on that.

He retired as public defenders and trial date was reset for February 2025, it also appeared for a point that there might be no trial.

The trial might be averted last summer when he appeared set to accept a plea deal.

>> And which he plead guilty to the murder charges and some other counts and except to life in prison sentence.

But on the day he was in court to accept that deal.

abruptly rejected it in a bit of a surprise move in front of a lot of the victims So setting stage now for the trial he's going through at this point.

And here we are, of course, Crimo's father.

How has he been involved in all that jazz father also named Robert Crimo.

I he was charged with reckless conduct for recklessly eating his son in buying weapons a couple years before the shooting.

But he had already known that his son had expressed desire to harm people.

And despite that, he signed off on his FOID card application and that's what led to these charges.

He was set for trial in late 2023 as well on the day that was set to happen.

He pleaded guilty to some reduced charges, was sentenced to 60 days in prison, which he has since served.

He's been in court with his son for most of his court appearances.

But it marks one of the very few occasions in U.S. history where the parents of somebody who carried out a mass shooting was held accountable for their child's actions.

of course, as we know, we think arguments are openings.

Where will begin next week Masterson?

We know you'll be all over it for us.

>> When the time comes.

Thank you.

Thanks, friends.

And you can read Matt's full story on our website is all at W T Tw Dot com Slash news.

Costs of everyday essentials like groceries and gas are climbing.

Low wages are remaining largely stagnant.

>> And that's being especially felt in Chicago, which has the highest inflation rate in the nation.

According to Wallet Hub report, Chicago's rate sits at 4.3% outpacing the national average of 3%.

It comes as the Trump administration is promising to impose sweeping tariffs and push out much of the immigrant workforce.

Joining us with more on the local economic landscape is Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Thank you for joining us.

Welcome, Thank you for having So as we mentioned, you know, should have those leading the nation in inflation, followed by San Diego, Boston, Honolulu and San Bernardino, California.

What would you say?

What we know about what is driving high inflation locally?

Well, look, this is a category you never wanted to even be in the in the running and to be number one is is disappointing.

>> The thing to remember is this isn't a comparison of cost.

How expensive is this city versus another city?

This was the inflation rate for the year and for fun.

Actual physical goods.

They can be shipped from place to place of the cross city inflation rate largely reflects housing price inflation in transportation costs, airfares, and that sort of thing.

And while ours was the highest for this past year that followed some previous years, whereas, you know, are house price inflation was not as high as as some of the other cities so that that does not mean that we're paying more for eggs and bread and milk.

Then our neighbors in San Diego.

Yes, True.

The cost of living is higher in California in New York City bunch of places to before a big city, relatively modest cost.

But the inflation rate was the highest of all of a major metro areas.

Like I say, you never you never wanted to win that when when that distinction.

Here we are.

So, you know, obviously many consumers were already noticing that, you know, that it's costing us more in the checkout line at the grocery store.

And I think a lot of consumers want to know.

>> Winds are going to get better what to get hate to see lower price.

So the thing is the Federal Reserve.

Has 2 jobs given to it by the law and the Federal Reserve Act to stabilize prices and maximize employment.

>> And on prices, we've interpreted that to be get the inflation rate to 2%.

That is the how fast the prices grow year-over-year.

We get to 2%.

That's different than the question my mom would ask, which is one of the price is going to go back to what they were in 2019 or if you back up farther, I bought my grandfather would never take us to the movies because in his mind, the movies were supposed to cost a nickel.

That's how much movies, because when he was again and we all know that's not going it's not going to happen.

So the thing about the Fed, we have an inflation target, not a price level.

Target, which is just a different way to say if you want the prices to go back to what they were in 2019, you would have to have very substantial deflation.

And the only way that we know how to do that is if wages went way down and nobody wants ways to go down.

So in in our world, in the central bank world, we're just trying to get the the the inflation rate to 2%.

And we would like incomes to be growing faster than prices.

And lately that has been happening.

This number for Chicago's a little troubling because that it to have an inflation rate of 4.3% Is right around or even above what average wages have been growing so that that's the area of concern.

>> So you can have inflation slowdown, but are prices will maybe remain the same?

happened.

Yeah.

The price price is if we got inflation to 2%, the central bank is going to say that's what we that was our goal.

People are still going to see that the prices are going up 2% from where they were the previous year.

The key question is our incomes, real income.

That is your standard of living rising.

And we went through a period where I don't need to tell you or anybody else that wasn't happening.

The job market was strong but wages were going up less than prices and that what was the centerpiece of people's anger about inflation.

So we also know President Trump, he plans to impose 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, which experts warm Warner, economic experts are warning.

>> That's going to be, of course, another hit to consumers.

Pockets.

You're probably limited in what you can say here.

But what is your reaction to the administration's proposals?

Look, as you say, the feds and we're in the monetary policy business of setting interest rates.

So we don't say what's a good fiscal policy tax policy, tariff policy, Congress and the president can do whatever they want to do.

But I always say it's our Midwest motto.

There's no bad weather.

Only bad clothing.

We look at the conditions and decide on what jacket to wear.

So if the administration and tax policies that drive up prices.

By law.

The Fed has to think about anything that raises prices or affects employment.

That's in our mandate.

If they carry out tariffs of the form.

On intermediate goods.

That is on things in the supply chain, steel, aluminum, things that are used in the making of other products.

That will.

Have an impact on prices outside of just those specific goods themself and the thing to note in Chicago, the state of Illinois and really the whole Midwest.

was significantly more manufacturing intensive.

Then the rest of the national economy.

So tariffs will affect Illinois much more then than that, the average economy.

I think of the 50 states were about 6th or 7th in impact of the tariffs, depending how big they are or on what countries they apply And as president of Federal Reserve in Chicago in this region.

Is that a concern, concern love It's not that coming straight for me.

I was just few days ago out at the automotive in Pie Insight.

Symposium that the Chicago Fed runs in in Detroit.

Talk to a lot of major auto executives, the auto industry, as you might imagine, it's the mother of all supply chains.

One car can have up to 30,000 different parts every one of them has its own supply chain.

And we talked to major suppliers who expressed.

There are concerns about if tariffs came in, how big would they be and how rapidly would they be passed through on to consumers and a lot of people saying they thought it could go straight on to consumers.

Others saying they thought the for the suppliers that the auto manufacturers would and would not give them a higher prices so they might have to eat it.

So there's a lot of uncertainty, lot of kind of dust in the air and before the Fed can can go back to cutting the rates.

I feel.

And have expressed that we got to get a little dust out of the air to have abs, more clarity understood and before we move on, let's let's make sure that our viewers understand and have a sense of, you know what it is.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago does and how your work influences the region's economy.

touched on a bit of it.

Look there.

There are Federal Reserve Act set up a system with some DC members of the Fed who are political appointees and confirmed by the Senate.

Jay Powell is the chair, but in 1913, when they pass the Federal Reserve Act.

As today.

Fundamentally, people did not want Washington, D.C., and New York City to control the whole financial system.

So there are 12 reserve banks spread around the United States, one of which is in Chicago in kind of covers heart of the Midwest and that the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank is a bank to the region's banks so we'd ever do a bunch of the plumbing of the financial system.

We are the supervisors of banks.

We're on hundreds of millions of dollars of cash in and out of the bank.

We have a big vote with with money in it and we run payments.

Ach, direct deposit.

Thad, why are a whole bunch of financial services as well as going to Washington and voting on monetary policy and people still are using cash record.

People going you it's not Devin Grant and and whatever else you may use.

So health care, obviously a major industry in the Chicago area.

And since the president took office in January, we've seen massive federal cuts to sciences research.

>> Are there concerns about sort of this?

What could be a potential purging of the region's major employers and what that could do to the economic outlook?

I mean, anything that affects employment.

>> We have to think about the law tells us we have to think about it.

It's still to be determined collectively.

What does the entire policy package?

Entail if there are to be spending cuts and government, tax cuts and tariffs and immigration policy and geopolitics.

The war in Ukraine.

The Middle East.

What happens?

The commodity prices, all of those taken together.

Are just the background conditions.

And I guess the way I'd say it is the conditions are changing all the time.

Yes, it feels like there are a lot of uncertainties about policy right now.

But the the FOMC needs every 6 weeks to determine interest rates it meets at frequently precisely because we know the conditions are constantly changing and so we we just take it as it comes and dread try to adjust the policy for We had state Representative John Cabello joining us here last week to discuss and establishing a local version of that here in Illinois.

>> He argues the government is not meant to be a job creator.

Here he is.

>> Government is supposed to create an environment for private business to flourish.

The more government agencies that we have going to be more burden the taxpayers.

So what we need to do is we need to create an environment for private business to flourish and read and get away from government jobs so that that way the of the taxpayers are burned as much when you have private industry doing the taxpayers are going to win.

>> Your reaction to the assessment?

Well, look, this is straight down the line, fiscal policy decision that Congress, the president and the every everyone can sort out what their view is on that.

I totally agree that if you just look at the data.

90 plus percent of growth in this country has nothing to do with Washington.

More state government.

It comes from the private sector.

Our goal of the Fed.

We got to fight inflation and we got to maximize employment.

We we succeeded very well on the job market site.

That's been the strongest thing in the economy and partly before I got there.

But partly since I've been there where we have failed is on getting inflation down.

That's clearly been the worst part of the economy has been the cost of living and the inflation affordability crisis.

So.

If Washington and and or the state.

We'll sort out what their policies are.

It will be a lot easier for us to then determine what is the appropriate response for on interest rates.

But in this period where there's they're hammering that out.

We got to take a little bit of a wait, wait and see posture.

We run the scenarios.

I mean, if you ask me what, what keeps you up at night?

The job of central bank is not to sleep at night.

nap in the daytime.

You know, so hopefully nothing they will contemplate will be something that we haven't thought of.

But we're still just in this running scenarios were fighting inflation and maximizing employment.

That's all we do and waiting and see.

Good work cut out for Austan Goolsbee, president, a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Thank you for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

>> Up next, marking another grim anniversary.

But first, a look at the weather today marks 3 years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine resulting in thousands of people being killed and millions displaced.

>> Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he would consider giving up his presidency in exchange for peace.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron today as part of efforts by European leaders to persuade Trump not to abandon Ukraine.

Will he negotiates a peace agreement with Russia?

Are Joanna Hernandez heard from local Ukrainians speaking out against the war.

>> I got to grow best of both worlds.

got to grow up with Willie Green's become parents on everyone's forgotten language he's got to keep that up because they're like you said there's so many Ukrainians in the area here.

>> Soria nationals on a cleft Ukraine with her family at age and found a new home in Chicago.

Now she has dedicated the last 3 years to speaking out about the ongoing war.

>> So we've gotten very used to the fact he's just staring us in the face.

And I think the world has gotten used to Nick is a co-founder of the Ukrainian Dollars Foundation and organization raising money to send aid to Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front lines.

>> Unfortunately, medical supplies and aid to try to get as many people have injured to save their lives.

And this isn't just a military person, Alex.

There's a lot of civilians at the front lines.

>> Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes and thousands of civilians have been killed.

Shows on.

Nick says there's still hundreds of Ukrainians who have stayed behind to fight like her brother.

>> I'm sure the kids the foundation puts together to send over to Ukraine.

Yes, yes, many, many, many we've lost count of how many part first aid kits issued to soldiers.

>> Entry exit, ceiling chest wounds in all this stuff.

>> As we walked the Ukrainian village home to one of the largest populations of Ukrainians in the U.S. we stopped by a local restaurant and meet a group of American Ukrainian veterans were saying things not like Ukraine started the war that's kind nonsensical >> saw it on TV.

So whole division on so long, what Veterans Post?

you know, put together humanitarian John's to she visit Ukrainian American veteran.

>> And a refugee from Germany during World War.

2 for the past 5 years.

His post 32 has raised funds to support a military clinical rehab hospital.

>> In Lviv assisting wounded soldiers in individuals with long-term disabilities completely devastated look at some of visited one with that first as it took us tour of different places in Ukraine.

And want remember that there's nothing that >> Although the war is 5,000 miles away, many Nick say it remains a conflict.

That is part of her everyday life.

This is a Russian missile that had landed in Ukraine and I believe clock youth.

>> little over a year ago.

And if you guys are here be able to touch and feel how sharp these edges actually are.

>> This is or has a rather large chunk of I guess you could call it trapped now.

That's when thurs all over the block destroys lives.

>> The message remains resolute among the thousands living in Ukrainian village.

They want the war to stop, but not on Russia's terms.

>> Putin is wanted in by the International Criminal Court for kidnapping a Ukrainian children.

>> And many, many other cases.

I mean, this is the world is not a safe place.

Ukraine is the thing that is stopping Russian terrorism from reaching the rest of Europe.

reaching further into America.

>> For Chicago tonight, I'm joined Hernandez.

>> The Ukrainian daughters Foundation says it sent over 300st aid kits to soldiers on the front lines to learn more about the organization.

Please visit our website.

And that's our show for this Monday night.

You can stream Chicago tonight on our W T Tw YouTube Channel every evening and catch up on any programs you may have missed and join us tomorrow night at 5, 30 10 one-on-one with Chicago's CFO.

One Mayor Johnson's plan to borrow 830 million dollars to fund infrastructure projects.

And we leave you tonight with more of the late Roberta flack performing on sound stage in 1981. now for all of us here in Chicago Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching.

Stay healthy and safe and have a good night.

>> to And Talk to Some Attention.

>> And staff action is made possible by with Clifford law offices, Chicago, personal injury and wrongful death.

>> It supports free